I look towards the bedroom window and notice a crow is perched on the ledge.
Finally.
Gray is here to watch me take Richard’s life. I gain my confidence back in my plan and I raise the blade above my head, muscles taut. My heel shifts back for balance…
The floorboard groans beneath my boot.
I freeze. A curse slips out of me, low and sharp. The constable doesn’t stir, and his breathing stays even.
Then…
Bark, bark, bark!
The sound rips through the house, violent and sudden.
The man jolts awake, eyes wide, fumbling for sense.
“Shit,” I whisper, too late to swallow it.
Richard’s eyes snap open and lock on mine; the only thing he can see beyond the mask.
“You!” he bellows, voice raw.
I drive the knife down, but he rolls, dragging his wife with him, both tumbling off the far side of the bed. The blade sinks deep into the mattress where his chest should’ve been. The woman jolts awake with a strangled scream, clutching at him before she even knows what’s happening.
Richard hits the floor hard, already pushing to his feet. I wrench the knife free, spinning, and dodging as he lunges. He misses, crashing head-and-shoulder into the wall beside the bed, the thud shaking the floorboards.
He swears, grabbing for the bedpost, but he’s up again before I can blink. I back away, ankle burning, trying to find space to move.
He comes at me with a roar, fist cutting through the air. I duck under the first swing but almost catch the uppercut that follows; it grazes my chin as I drop, throwing me off balance. I stumble sideways, my bad ankle screaming.
I kick out, catching his knee just enough to send him down with a curse. He grabs at his leg, teeth bared, fury twisting his face.
Then everything happens at once.
The dog’s claws clatter on the stairs, nails scraping wood. Richard shoves himself upright again, lunging toward me with a shout. His wife screams his name and rushes forward, trying to pull him back, to stop him.
I twist, knife in hand, ready to block him but she moves into the wrong place at the wrong second.
The blade meets her instead.
A breathless, broken sound leaves her lips. Her eyes go wide. She looks down at the knife between us, then up at me; confusion, pain and disbelief colouring her cheeks.
I let go and she collapses into her husband’s arms before I can catch her.
For a heartbeat, none of us move. The room feels hollow. Then Richard looks up at me, and the sound he makes isn’t human.
The dog bursts through the doorway, barking madly. My pulse pounds in my skull. I take one step back, then another, ankle throbbing, my mind a blur.
I didn’t mean to…
But it’s far too late for that. Her blue orb comes flying towards me, Richard can’t see as he’s looking down at his dead wife and the orb gets sucked into my pendant but this time, I don’t feel good nor stronger.
The mastiff lunges, a blur of black and muscle. It slams into me, knocking me sideways as claws scrape across the boards.
Richard’s voice explodes above the chaos. “Murderer! I’ll get you for this! You hear me? I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done!”
The dog’s weight presses me down. I reach up, grab the blanket from the bed, and drag it down with both hands. In one motion I throw it over the animal, wrapping the heavy fabric round its body. The mastiff barks and thrashes, twisting on itself, lost in confusion as the blanket tightens around its legs.
